Accompanying the general public's increased attraction with self-service technologies such as interactive touch displays, buttons, images signals, kiosks and automated dispensing/vending, is a growing interest in the interactive operation and interaction of the system during the event of retail POS purchasing or the potential purchasing process. The past and present state of the art for self-service automated systems support a self-service feature allowing for vending or dispensing of an item or product but typically do not have the means of complete control, unique or specific product identification, and/or product verification. Many methods and techniques have been used in the past or present by unattended self-service automated product dispensing systems to verify a product or item has been dispensed or removed from the system but presently there is no current methodology by unattended self-service automated product dispensing systems that offer or provide for a positive or definitive means of detecting that a specific or the exact item being returned or exchanged or redeemed by the customer or user has been solicited and received by a user or customer, and that the item can be verified as to its authenticity.
Thus, it is desirable to provide systems and methods that facilitate automated dispensing systems in retail locations.